News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1887-02-24
TIE PERILS OF THE SEA.
A MAINE BANKER'S STORY.
lie Tells of Ris Experience With Canni-
balls in the Southern Ocean.

A wealthy citizen and prominen
banker of Gardiner who, I supposed
had led an uneventful though industr1
Gus life, sat down in the Directors room
of his bank yesterday and told me
story of his capture by cannibals in hi
younger days which is better than Rob
inson Crusoe's narrative, because it /
true.
He was the son of one of the leading
ship builders and owners on the river
and in 1919, when "a or 25 years o
age, he went to California to look aftel
some vessel property belonging to hi
| father While in San Francisco ht
made an arrangement to go down to the
| South Sea on a trading voyage as super
| cargo, and he thus relates the incidents
of the trip:
eve made one of group of islands
lying in 172 deg. west longitude and A
south latitude, near New Zealand.
had heard of the place through Captain
Henry { tardiner, OF this town, and
knew that the natives were cannibalS
and raised splendid potatoes. Captain
Gardiner had told me that the scampf
had once taken a crew of forty men from
French whale ship and eaten every
one of them. But potatoes were selling
at dollar pound in San Francisco and
l determined to take back vessel load
and make enough to pay for running
| the risk.
81 cruised about the Island for about
100 days and picked up enough of theil
language to talk with them. We were
sailing by one of their towns at sunset
one night, when I concluded to &C
ashore in a boat. 1t was about like
landing near Seguin here, in October OIL
November. II was potatoe-diggin2
time and the weather was uncertain. II
shut down dark and | and my boat crew
were cast away.
"The natives pulled US out of the surf
and took me into the cabin of their
chief, where ! dried myself and passed
the night. Next morning l told the
chief | would like to have one of his
boats to go to my vessel. He would not
listen to it. Then l said I'd like to have
him go off with my boat crew and bring
the captain ashore. lie agreed to that,
and they went off to the vessel. After
they got on board, and before they
could start to come back, the wind
came around, blowing fresh, and the
vessel had to put to sea to make an off
ing. The consequence was they never
got back, and remained the prisoner
Of those cannibals for the next 10 days.
They treated me kindly. but watch
ed me too closely, altogether. they
would kill pig or a duck or anything e
| wanted to eat, but | couldn't move
without being dogged by 40 or so of
thos fellows. They would not tell me
where the vessel was.
''The old chief who had gone to the
vessel was widower and had daugh-
ter, II or Is years old, whose name was
TOrgana. Before her father went away
she had treated me politely, but never
would have any talk with me. She was
a person of much influence with the
tribe, and my plan was to get into her
good graces, in order to increase my
chances of escape.
after trying in vain to induce her
to converse with me, I acted upon a re-
collection that l had somewhere read
that all savages ale passionately fond of
gambling. | whitfield out a wooden
top, such as l used to play with for pins
when a boy, having on top Of it "A, fer
all, N, for nothing, &c. | showed her
how to use it and told her to get three
OF four companions and play. She did
so, and giving each one of them 10 ker-
nels of corn, | set them at gambling
with it. They soon became excited
over the game and infatuated with the
top. Watching Torgana carefully, Ino~
ticed that she felt very bad when she
lost and very good when she won.
Seeing one day that she was rapidly
losing her corn, I stealthly slipped some
more into her hand She accepted it,
and [ knew then that l had hold on
her Increased it by letting her put on
handsome seal ring which 1 wore on
my finger
''Taking piece of charcoal, I one
day drew rude map to show where |
had left my father and mother. | told
her that they were old and helpless, and
that their provisions would give out, and
that they would starYe unless | would
return to them soon I saw that | had
enlisted her sympathy, but when asked
her where the 'kybook' (the vesseD was
she refused to tell me-
II lew ddNS dlJCl tlldb Sllt CdLllt 10
me at night, as | was standing outside
of my cabin. and told me that the ky
book was at Wytanga. about 60 miles
across the island. She offered to send a
guide with me to the vessel if / would
promise to protect him and take him
away with me. If l did not, she said,
they would kill him. l offered to make
her present of my ring. but she would
not take it. MY father will kill me
when he comes back if l have the ring, ,
she said.
''That night, I and my guide, stout,
rugged fellow, started about midnight
on our tramp across the island. We
walked all the night and all the next
day to reach the vessel. l rubbed my
self all over in bucket of rum when |
got aboard, but the next morning I was
so lame that | could not stand.
81 took away with me in the vessel
my guide and another native called
'Acoachy.' i he latter was ne, hon
est fellow, good worker, who begged
SO hard to be kidnapped that l could
not refuse him. Finding that the ma
tlves were coming aboard to search for
him | hid him in the scuttle, little
square den under the forecastle, and
then put a sailors chest over the scut-
tie. Those devils went all over the
vessel; when they had searched one
place they posted a sentinel to watch it :;
They looked into the bunt of sails and
polled a stick into every water caslk, but
they thought the forecastle was the bot
tom Of the vessel and failed TO find the
scuttle.
"AcoachY was a member of sub
ordinate tribe which had been taken in
war by the tribe which ruled the is.
land. They ate half of tfeir prisoners
and made slaves of the other half They
had killed and eaten Acoachy's wife and
child
CATER we arrived at San Francisco
Acoachy pleaded to be taken home with
me and | brought him to Gardiner. lie
was the best diver and swimmer | ever
saw, and | consequently took him down
to South America with me on a diving
eX edition. AfterWard, while swim
ming across the KcnnGbec, he was seized
with a cramp and drowned. His fun
eral was conducted by Bishop Burgess
Acoachy was a noble fellow, as true as
steel. His character was greatly ad-
mired by our beloved ishop."
Traditions of Acoachy's remarkable
swimming feats have been repeated to
Kennebec boys ever since his death.
The writer remembers having heard and
wondered at them when a lad froiicking
in the river with his companions; but
he had not before been told Acoachys 8
biography.